This is part of the Wingman Archives, where I’m sharing all the recipes from our chicken wing stall in Saigon.
This one is Yen’s. She developed the karaage recipe and it became one of our most ordered dishes. Somehow it never made it into the original recipe book, so here it is now.
The difference between this and most karaage recipes you’ll find online is the marinade time. Most recipes call for 30 minutes to an hour. We vacuum sealed the chicken and left it for a minimum of 24 hours. The marinade gets all the way through the meat and you can taste the difference. Don’t skip that step.
Served the traditional way, skin-on chicken thighs, shredded cabbage and Kewpie mayo on the side.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 kg boneless skin-on chicken thighs, cut into 4 cm pieces
Marinade
- 60 ml soy sauce
- 60 ml sake
- 30 ml mirin
- 20 grams fresh ginger, grated
- 10 grams garlic, grated
- 5 ml sesame oil
Coating
- 150 grams potato starch
To serve
- Shredded cabbage
- Kewpie mayonnaise
Directions
Marinade
- Combine the soy sauce, sake, mirin, ginger, garlic and sesame oil in a bowl and mix well.
- Add the chicken and mix until evenly coated.
- Vacuum seal and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, up to 48 hours.
Frying
- Heat oil to 160°C.
- Remove the chicken from the bag and shake off any excess marinade.
- Coat each piece in potato starch and shake off the excess.
- Fry in batches for 2 to 3 minutes until lightly golden. Don’t overcrowd the oil.
- Remove and rest on a rack for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Bring the oil up to 180°C and fry again for 1 minute until deep golden and crispy.
- Rest on a rack for a minute before serving.
To serve
- Plate the chicken alongside a mound of finely shredded cabbage and a generous squeeze of Kewpie mayo.
If you want to, you can stop at the first fry and freeze the chicken for later on the second fry direct from frozen. Usually 3-4 minutes from frozen but you’ll need to test yourself depending on the sizes of the chicken you cut.